Chapter 8 - Memory

Question 0

Describe the model memory model.

Answer 0

Sensory store (iconic and echoic memory)
Short-term store (temporary storage for info that can be forgotten or transferred into long-term memory)
Long-term memory (stored representation of everything a person knows)

Question 1

Name the three forms of memory and give examples of each.

Answer 1

1. Autobiographical - based on a specific life event. Ex. - my 13th birthday party
2. Declarative - specific fact based. Ex. - the 4th of July is Independence Day
3. Prospective (PM) - remembering to to future actions. Ex. - setting an alarm to wake up

Question 2

Describe the sensory store.

Answer 2

Function: hold info long enough to be analyzed by unconscious mental process (iconic and echoic memory)
Duration: less than 1 sec. for sights and only several seconds for sounds
Capacity: can hold all sensory info
Attention: activates stimuli that allow info to transfer to short-term memory

Question 3

Describe the short-term store.

Answer 3

Function: temporary storage
Capacity: 7 +/- 2 (5-9 seconds of info)
-Miller’s magic number
Duration: 15-30 seconds
-Brown Peterson Effect
Control Process: rehearsal (maintenance and elaborate)
Chunking: combining memories into known configurations. Ex. - MD, PHD, RSVP, IHOP

Question 4

What are the different ways of control process within the short-term store.

Answer 4

Rehearsal: Maintenance (rote) - repetition of information. Ex. - memorizing phone numbers or definitions
Rehearsal: Elaborate - forming connections (stories, relations, etc.) Ex. - finding real life examples of information so that it is easier to remember a definition when it can be applied to your own life.
Chunking: combining significance in cues. Ex.- MDPHDRSVP —> MD PHD RSVP

Question 5

Describe why the serial position curve exists.

Answer 5

The serial position curve relies on the primacy and decency effects. It theorizes that the first of a list are remembered because there is more time for it to be remembered (primacy effect) and that the last of a list is remembered because it is the last entered information (recently effect).

Question 6

Describe the long-term memory.

Answer 6

Function: stored representation of everything a person knows.
Capacity: unlimited or unknown
Duration: unlimited
** if forgetting information! it either never made it to long-term memory or can be found. Ex. - “tip of the tongue” knowledge.

Question 7

Describe the processes involved within the long-term store.

Answer 7

Encoding - thinking about information in a way that gets it into long term memory. “Writing on the brain”
- rehearsal and chunking
- deeper processing is better
Retrieval - process of accessing information in memory
- retrieval cues
- context and state dependent

Question 8

What are the forms of memory failure?

Answer 8

1. Forgetting - omission

2. Memory distortion - commission

Question 9

Describe the decay theory.

Answer 9

Forgetting occurs because unused information weakens over time.

Question 10

Describe interference and it’s different forms.

Answer 10

Interference is when there is competition among memories making it difficult to remember
PORN
Proactive interference - remembers the old information when it competes with new information.
Retroactive interference - remembers the new information when it competes with the old information.

Question 11

Describe amnesia and it’s different forms.

Answer 11

Retrograde amnesia - lack of memory for past events

Anterograde amnesia - inability to form long term memories

Question 12

Name a form of memory distortion and describe how it works.

Answer 12

Flashbulb memory - reconstructed memory that may include questionable facts
Memory is not a playback system. When we experience, we imagine additional parts of the memory when it is reconstructed and the memory can be affected by many different things, such as social bearings and others memories that have been expressed.